ISET Economist Blog

27 March 2020

Ana Burduli, Mariam Katsadze, Giorgi Papava

Regional Impacts of COVID-19 Shock to HORECA Sector

The outbreak of the virus and the corresponding containment measures have started to severely affect the global economy. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its Interim Economic Outlook Report (2020) on March 2nd downgraded 2020 real GDP growth projections for almost every country. The largest reduction in growth projections is seen for China (-0.8 percentage points) with a worldwide real GDP growth rate expected to decline from 2.9% (November 2019 forecast) to 2.4%.

17 March 2020

Yaroslava Babych, Davit Keshelava, Giorgi Mzhavanadze

It’s Not Who You Trade With – It’s Who You Produce With: Measuring Georgia’s Integration into Global and Regional Value Chains

We live in a world where the production of a single good typically involves manufacturing inputs from many different countries around the globe. For example, a typical iPhone production takes place in as many as 7 countries, including the USA, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, and even Switzerland. This is what is known to economists as global value chains (GVC). The emergence of GVC more than two decades ago transformed the way economists think about countries’ comparative advantage and specialization in production.

10 March 2020

Tamta Maridashvili

Belarusian Path to Transition: Lessons for Georgia?

“The lobby of the Metropole, Moscow's lovingly restored grand hotel a few blocks from Red Square, is almost deserted on this gray spring afternoon. That's just fine with Jeffrey D. Sachs, a boyish-looking 38-year-old Harvard professor who is now probably the most important economist in the world. He has appropriated a cluster of comfortable armchairs for a meeting with two members of his team, Americans who work full time in Russia. The agenda is Russia's safety net or, more precisely, whether unemployed workers will be able to make ends meet.

09 March 2020

Salome Gelashvili

Agriculture in Georgia: Are There Any Real Changes in the Sector?

After years of negligence, from 2012 onwards, Georgian agriculture returned to the spotlight. State funding for the sector grew from 85 mln. GEL in 2011 to more than 200 mln. GEL in the consecutive years, and up to 293 mln. GEL in 2020. The state launched more than ten agricultural support programs and established a separate agency, the Agricultural Projects Management Agency (APMA), in 2013 for their management. Those engaged in agriculture obviously welcome the increased state support to the sector, however many now question the results.

06 March 2020

Mariam Tsulukidze, Norberto Pignatti, Levan Pavlenishvili

Is Climate Change Threatening Winter Tourism in Georgia? – Part 2 – Adaptation Measures

Georgian winter resorts have finally started their long-awaited season in February 2020, after a month and a half of poor snow. In our previous blog, we discussed the possible climate change development scenarios over the rest of the century and revealed the need for better understanding and implementation of adaptation measures. However, more still needs to be said about the expected effects of climate change on the economic viability of resorts and their possible adaptation strategies.

10 February 2020

Irakli Kochlamazashvili

Tusheti Community Network Drives Development into the High Mountainous Regions of Georgia

Back in 2005, as there was no mobile coverage, my uncle drove dozens of kilometers to the Jvarboseli village in Tusheti to inform me that I had enrolled in university. Now, in 2020, there is still no mobile signal in most Tusheti villages, including Jvarboseli, however, people can use broadband internet to reach out to the world!

ISET Economist Blog

A blog about economics in the South Caucasus financed within the institutional grant by the Government of Sweden.